Bonne Nuit, Princesse
by Miraculous4TheWorld
Summary: Marichat: The most unlikely couple, and yet it's happening. However, tensions rise between Marinette and Chloe as the secrets of Ladybug and Chat's identity begin to unravel, along with the threat of leaking Marinette and Chat's secret relationship...
1. MariChat

Silence.

He looked over at her. Her blue eyes searched the night sky. Then she turned to him and smiled.

"The Scorpio constellation is really bright tonight," she commented.

"It is?" He blushed as she laughed.

"One day, I'm going to go on a whole astronomy lesson with you." Her voice was gentle, amused. She twirled a lock of her dark hair idly.

His chuckle was low. "You're so talented, Princess. You can sew, design, bake, and you're good with the stars, too? This is why I love you." He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth as he saw her expression.

Her smile had faded at that, replaced by guilt and sadness. "Please don't, Chaton. You know I like someone else."

Chat hung his head, his hands gripping the railing of Marinette's porch. He sighed. How did it get to this point? almost two weeks ago, he'd been head-over-heels in love with Ladybug, but something in his heart had burst when he saw Marinette. He couldn't help it. And now, the only two girls he could ever imagine loving were both chasing after someone else. He felt an ache in his chest at the thought.

"I'm sorry, m'lady," whispered Chat, only loud enough for the night to hear.

"Did you say something?" asked Marinette softly.

"N-no. Just nostalgia, I suppose." Chat cracked a half-hearted smile at her.

Marinate couldn't stop the floor of color rushing through her cheeks. She felt remorseful just thinking of the nights she'd spent with Chat, then she'd believed Adrien was the one for her. Sorrow struck her heart, and a shadow fell over her face.

"Purr-incess? Is everything alright?" asked Chat, concerned, as he placed a gloved hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah. It-it's getting late. You probably need to leave soon," murmured Marinette, checking her watch. 10:49 p.m.

Chat nodded. "You're right." He jumped onto the railing and turned to Marinette.

"Tomorrow night, same time," said Mari, answering his unspoken question. He smiled, nodded, and sprang off into the darkness. Mari watched for a second longer, then she climbed back down through the trapdoor.

"Oh, Marinette," giggled Tikki as she flitted around the teen.

"Hush," said Marinette with a smile. She pulled out her pigtails, brushed her teeth, changed into her Ladybug pajamas, and tucked herself into bed. "Goodnight, Tikki," she mumbled sleepily.

"Goodnight, Marinette," responded Tikki.

The next morning, Marinette rushed into class, clutching a gift wrapped in purple wrapping paper. She stopped, panting, in front of Alya.

"Here," she gasped. "Happy birthday."

Alya laughed. "Thanks, girl. Did you hear? Last night, a figure in black was seen leaping around the rooftops at around eleven at night. The source swears it was Chat Noir!" Alya's eyes shone with excitement.

"O-oh. They did?" stuttered Marinette.

"Yes! Oh my God, we should totally do a stakeout!" Alya grabbed Marinette by the shoulders and shook her violently.

"Ah, um, I'm busy tonight," lied Marinette, wincing.

"Well, whatever you have, drop it immediately!" commanded Alya.

"Hey, girls," came a familiar voice behind the pair.

"AHHH!" squeaked Marinette, jumping, waving her hands wildly as she tried to regain her balance. "A-Adrien!"

"Hi," said Adrien, with a dazzling smile. Inside, flames were raging around his heart as he looked at his princess. He took a deep breath. _Calm yourself, man._ "Happy birthday, Alya."

"Thanks," said Alya. She nodded at Marinette. "Hey, you should totally go on the stakeout with us!"

"Stakeout?" Adrien frowned.

"Yes! Didn't you hear about the figure in black seen leaping around Paris late last night?" Alya chattered on. "We were going to have a stakeout. I'll be filming, and Mari..."

Adrien zoned out as tension and anxiety created a knot in his stomach. _Oh, crap._

"Anyways, will you come?" finished Alya.

"What?" He frowned. "Oh, right. Sorry. I have to... um... get my beauty rest? I'm a busy guy, you know." Adrien's face flushed.

"Seriously? Both of you? Busy?" Alya groaned. "I'll get Nino to watch it with me, then." She hurried off.

"Well," said Adrien.

The bell rang.

"Got to get to class." Adrien winked, then left.

Marinette frowned.

 _Something's not right._


	2. Tangled Love

Chat looked down at the akumatized victim. Boulanger cackled as she waved around her weapon. As her spoon twirled around, it sent a stream of what looked like sugar at people, turning them into statues that dissolved into piles of crumbs. The same happened to buildings, animals, and plants.

Chat flipped on his phone and called Ladybug. She didn't answer twice, so Chat shrugged.

"Hopefully she comes soon," he muttered. Then he jumped down to face Boulanger. "Hey, bread-head!"

Boulanger turned around and chuckled. "Look what the cat dragged in."

She sent a stream of sugar at him. He dodged it with ease. "Is that all you've got, pieface?"

Meanwhile, Marinette was finishing the last delicate stitches on her new winter toque. She hurried downstairs to find her parents, only to find the bakery empty.

Marinette frowned and called her mom, but she didn't pick up. She called her dad, but his phone went straight to voicemail. Shaking her head, she walked outside and was startled to see Chat Noir fighting a bakery-lady that looked an awful lot like Sabine.

"Oh no," murmured Marinette, dread sinking in her stomach like a stone.

She hurried upstairs and transformed as quickly as possible. Then she swung out onto the streets and dropped neatly next to her partner.

"Sorry for the delay," she rushed.

Chat gave her a nod. "No problem. Let's just try to finish this, quick," he said. Then he leapt forward and attacked.

Ladybug frowned. He'd lacked his usual cheer when he'd spoken. Ladybug sighed. It was worrying. Could something be wrong.

"Ladybug, watch out!" shouted Chat.

Ladybug ducked and rolled out of the way as Boulanger skimmed her hair and skidded to a halt on the other side of her. Ladybug didn't even have time to consider the fact that Chat hadn't called her _M'lady_.

"Are you unsteady? Or should I say, _unbready?"_ Boulanger laughed.

"Okay, that was even worse than Chat's puns," she grumbled. Then she ran forward, swinging her yo-yo.

* * *

Ladybug dropped neatly on her porch, transforming back. Tikki fell into her palm.

Marinette's eyes widened. "Let's get you some macarons." She went through her porch trapdoor, down the ladder from her room, down the stairs, and entered her parents' bakery.

"Oh, my dear!" cried Sabine, rushing forward to hug Marinette. "I can't believe I lost control of my emotions and let Hawk Moth get to me!"

"Don't blame yourself, Mom. Everyone gets upset," soothed Marinette. "I just came down for some macarons.

"Here you go," said Tom. He handed her a little bakery box. Marinette opened it to find it filled with green tea macarons.

"Thanks, Dad. You're the best." Marinate kissed her dad's cheek, then went back to her room, smiling.

The next day at school, Alya ran forward. "Girl! Did you see the new scoop on Ladybug and Chat Noir?" she gasped, breathless.

"Uh, no?"

"Here! You've _got_ to see this!" Alya shoved her phone in Marinette's face. She took it.

"This is Nadja Chamack! Don't be bemused, it's just the news! I'm here today with guest star, Alec Cataldi. Today, we have some top-info on Paris's superheroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir," introduced Nadja, the reporter. A video played in the corner, with short clips of Chat talking to Ladybug. Nadja turned to Alec. "Don't you think Chat has been rather... _normal_ towards Ladybug?"

"I do, indeed, Nadja. Chat seems to have suddenly fallen out of love with Ladybug overnight. No more stupid puns, no more _m'lady_. What is going on?" Alec winked at the camera. "Stay tuned for more news this afternoon!"

The video ended. Marinette froze. She hadn't noticed he'd been different towards her yesterday, but she realized Nadja was right. "Wow," she breathed.

"I know, right! This is so exciting!" Alya grabbed Marinette by the shoulders. "Omigosh, I have to make a LadyBlog on this!" Alya dashed away, already tapping furiously away on her phone.

* * *

That night, Marinette gazed up at the stars. She twirled a lock of hair absently, thinking about Nadja's report. That afternoon, they'd talked more about why, what had happened, would it affect the dynamic duo.

"Hello, Purrincess," came the familiar voice from behind Marinette.

She whirled around. "Chat!"

Chat leapt down from the roof and smiled. "Couldn't sleep?" He smiled.

"I just kept thinking about that news report today," confessed Marinette.

Chat's impish grin faded immediately. "Oh."

"What's really happened?" she breathed, hardly daring to look into his eyes.

Chat paused. there was a long silence.

"You did."


End file.
